Chapter Eleven Communication

  I watched them exchange verbal blows, then I invited Major Bohmann into the artillery camp, and after Yang Jie's deputy cleared the area at my hint, I began a face-to-face conversation with Bohmann.

  "Naval Captain Bohman of Military Intelligence Bureau."

  "Vice Minister of Military Affairs and Supplies Song Ziwen."

  "I, on behalf of the National Defense Forces, thank Mr. Song for his great help to the Navy!"

  "I dare not, the German Navy's help to the Chinese Navy was even greater."

  "This is a private letter from Admiral Raeder to you."

  (In fact: Raeder's rank at that time was Admiral of the Fleet, but Raeder had always liked to be called Dr. Raeder)

  "This is the copy of the list of goods you wanted, which has been shipped to China and destined for Xiangshan. The payment has been deducted from the naval submarine mother ship account of your country, and the remaining amount and our gift have been transferred to the account designated by you. Hope you have received the notice from the shipping company and the bank."

  "I have received the notification and am very pleased with your gift and service."

  "No need to be polite, I'm here on the orders of the Navy to ask for your advice. Given your brilliant insights into submarine design, I'd like to ask for your views on submarine warfare?"

  "Is Commander D?nitz in charge of your country's submarine fleet?"

  No one could have imagined that seven years later he would be promoted to German Navy Admiral, serving as Commander-in-Chief of the Navy, and ten years later become the successor to Hitler's throne, D?nitz was at this time just a humble Captain! But it is indeed historical fact.

  "Yes, Admiral D?nitz highly praised Mr.'s submarine design ideas."

  "Frighteningly, D?nitz was very interesting: 'Based on my brief contact with Mr. D?nitz in Germany and my long-term understanding of submarines, especially German submarines during World War I, I think the German Navy's submarine fleet is suitable for developing a brand new submarine tactic, which I call "wolf pack" tactics. To put it briefly, it means that tens or even dozens of submarines are deployed at intervals to form a horizontal formation in the Atlantic Ocean to expand the search range. When any submarine discovers an enemy transport convoy with naval escort, it will report back to the other boats and the command center on land, and then the command center will be responsible for assembling or concentrating the surrounding submarines to attack the transport convoy, so as to concentrate on the concentrated, gather and annihilate them. This tactic is similar to a wolf pack hunting, so I call it "wolf pack" tactics. It can avoid the dilemma that a single submarine cannot take action when facing an enemy escort ship, and other boats cannot arrive in time to form an effective strike.'"

  Bachmann, hurry up and take notes! I'm laughing so hard, coughing... this is not long after Denitz's invention. It's rare to have the pleasure of being a "cross-dimensional god". Thinking about it, I'm really pitiful. Every time I cross over, my intelligence doesn't increase, still as careless as before, and my physical strength hasn't grown either - can't even beat up a girl. The superpowers of those "cross-dimensional gods" are beyond my imagination... sighing in frustration, I can only find some fun on Bachmann's body now.

  "Excuse me, Major Bohrmann, what is the prescribed shooting distance for submarines in your army?"

  "I'm not from a submarine unit and don't know the details, but as far as I know it's around 3,000 meters."

  "As far as I know, even very experienced submarine captains find it difficult to hit a low-speed target at 3,000 meters with a torpedo. Why can't your military's specified firing distance be any shorter?"

  "As we understand it, the British Navy's sonar technology has reached a very high level and can accurately locate targets at depths of 3,000 meters or even further. If our submarine is too close to the target, it will first come under attack by anti-submarine vessels."

  (Historical fact: Before World War II, the German Navy overestimated the effectiveness of British naval sonar.)

  "Understood." I muttered under my breath: "Yeah right!"

  "Excuse me, earlier you mentioned that the enemy submarine fleet was discovered to be sending reports in front of the enemy, how will this problem of the enemy intercepting and learning about it be solved?"

  "Don't worry, the submarine's surface speed is higher than that of ordinary civilian ships. As long as the submarine seizes the opportunity to send a report, it can completely avoid the escort fleet escaping."

  "What's your view on the construction of the German Navy, sir?"

  "Due to the rapid development of air forces, the threat from the air is becoming increasingly serious. In future wars, the German surface fleet, which is at a significant numerical and geographical disadvantage, will not play a major role. I personally suggest that the German Navy abandon the construction of large and medium-sized surface warships, including aircraft carriers; and concentrate its strength on developing submarines."

  "What you said would drive a PhD crazy."

  "Heh heh. Also, please inform Captain Denitz that if he thinks it's not possible to attack underwater at close range, he might try a nighttime surface attack at close range instead, perhaps they can avoid the enemy sonar."

  (In fact: At the beginning of the war, the German Navy believed that "the British sonar technology was superb", and indeed deployed submarines to attack on the surface at night.)

  。。。

  "After examining the Shangrao area, although we find your government's suggestions very attractive, we consider that at this stage it is not suitable for us to make long-term investments in China."

  It seems there are also wise people on the German side, and my plan to make a profit by using someone else's resources has fallen through!

  "Can you tell me the reason?"

  "The current international situation makes it impossible to carry out stable long-term investments. The plan to develop the Upper Silesian copper mines is likely to run into difficulties in a few years' time due to an unstable world situation, which could lead to the mined copper being unable to be transported back to Germany."

  "It's a pity, if the international situation were calm, this would have been a good long-term project."

  "We are also sorry. What does the gentleman need? Perhaps we can resolve it in another way."

  "No need to beat around the bush, many military-related projects can no longer be resolved. The relationship between the Chinese and German governments has already gone downhill, in order to contain the Soviet Union, your leader must abandon China and extend an olive branch to Japan."

  "For Germany's benefit."

  "For Germany's sake, an alliance with Japan is out of the question."

  Someone's voice approached quickly, and we could only stop talking. The one who came in was Schultze, followed by several officers. The leader apologized: "Sorry, Mr. Schultze somehow entered the exercise area without permission."

  "Is this the famous Mr. Song?"

  "Not exactly a household name, Mr. Schulze."

  "As an old friend of Minister Song, may I join your private conversation?"

  "Sung, you and..."

  "It doesn't matter, Major Bohrmann has just brought a letter of thanks. Dr. Redl is thanking me for my modest services to the German Navy. And also declining our proposal to exploit the copper mines. Major Bohrmann, please continue." I waved my hand to let the others leave.

  "That's good. Why did Song say that? Just because Song is Chinese? The Japanese army against the Soviet Union, the Japanese navy against the United States, are all good restraints, and once war breaks out, they will even be a powerful help."

  "The Führer's policy does not contemplate a war with Russia and England in the present stage, nor later on; how would Germany act if Japan were to go to war with one or all of these three powers under the German-Japanese alliance?"

  "Is Japan going crazy?"

  "In '05 Japan could wildly attack Russia, who can guarantee they won't wildly attack the US in a few decades?"

  "But Japan attacked Russia because Russia blocked their way in Manchuria, why did they attack America?"

  "Do you still remember the reason why you gave up on our proposed long-term cooperation project? One of them should be that Japan continued to launch limited wars against our country, eventually expanding and escalating."

  "In line with your government's consistent stance, I find it hard to believe that this local war will escalate? For instance, Manchuria? Or Jehol? Or Shanghai?"

  "Now we have retreated to the point of no return, whether in Peiping or Shanghai."

  "It's hard to imagine how you'll defend against Japan's attack. I'm afraid it will be another few weeks of fighting before the army collapses, followed by more territorial concessions and indemnities. Sorry, maybe I shouldn't have said that so directly."

  "It doesn't matter, General Falkenhausen already knows what it means to be direct. And the next war will open your eyes wide!"

  "I'll be watching with bated breath then, although I seriously doubt how long your team's combat effectiveness can last?"

  "Can last six months."

  "It seems your estimate is not high either? What then? Still cede territory and pay indemnity?"

  "If we can't beat them, retreat for a while and reorganize to fight again. China has great strategic depth and reserve forces. 'This war, as long as we fight it, we must fight to the end and absolutely cannot compromise with Japan halfway; as long as we persevere, changes in the international situation will be beneficial to us.' - Mr. Chiang Baili said."

  Before Bohmann could speak, Schultze interjected: "Mr. Song, may I ask what makes you think Japan will provoke war against Britain, Russia and even the United States?"

  It seems that the two are in cahoots, or at least for now. I replied: "As Japan actually occupies Manchuria and has swallowed up Russia's interests (the Chinese Eastern Railway), Russia did not immediately counterattack, which we see as a friendly gesture, but to the Japanese it is a sign of weakness; coupled with Japan's consistent promotion of Man-Mong autonomy, it will inevitably trigger action by Mongolians in western Manchuria. It can be foreseen that war between Russia and Japan over Manchuria, and on the Sino-Russian border, is inevitable in the near future. The only question is whether the scale will be limited."

  "Not bad, according to our country's foreign diplomatic channel intelligence, the number of small-scale border clashes between Japan and Russia in Manchuria has increased significantly since this year (1935)."

  "And what about Britain?"

  "It should be said that it is aimed at Southeast Asia's European territories."

  "Does Japan have such a big nerve? Don't mention European countries, just one British Navy is enough to defeat Japan."

  (At that time, Germany and even countries around the world generally overestimated the British Navy.)

  "What if you were attacking France at that time? Don't forget the Anglo-French alliance!"

  "What about America? They shouldn't have anything to do with it."

  "If the United States were to remain neutral, it would have no relation with Japan and also no relation with Germany. Would you still need an alliance with Japan? If the US wanted to take action against Japan, the first thing they would do is impose an embargo on Japan, which would cut off Japan's import and export channels for raw materials. What about oil? It could only be taken by force from the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia), forcing Britain and all of Western Europe to enter the war, followed by the US, and then a Japanese-German alliance."

  "I get it! The Japan-Germany alliance is only beneficial to Germany if Japan does not go to war with Europe and the US, otherwise Germany will be dragged into an unwanted war by Japan or have its government's credibility ruined once and for all, while Japan wants to go to war!"

  I laughed and secretly smiled: 'The reputation of the German government will also be completely destroyed by the Fuehrer in the next few years!'

  After Bohm finished writing a pile of shorthand notes, he finally asked: "Why did these start? And where did they begin?"

  "Let's get back to our previous topic from here! Japan will inevitably take further nibbling actions against China, and China has already retreated to the point of no return, whether in Beiping or Shanghai."

  "'It's already retreated without any room for retreat, whether in Beiping or Shanghai.' Is this your personal opinion? Or does it represent something?"

  "This is my personal opinion, and also the idea of most Chinese people."

  "including the committee chair?"

  I hesitated for a moment, looking at this amateur diplomat who might have direct access to Hitler, or at least G?ring, and replied: "Including."

  。。。

  I saw off the Germans and hastily made a record based on my memory, of course deleting private matters; afterwards I got on Yang Jie's special train with Jiang Baili to return to Nanjing. Along the way there was no conversation, actually I was dazed and couldn't say anything, Yang Jie directly sent me to the official residence, it was still the attendants at the official residence who carried me to my temporary bed in the official residence, I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.